Leadership Team

Ryan is the founder and CEO of DefCERT where he has led DFARS and CMMC compliance transformation projects for over 150 manufacturers in the Defense Industrial Base. Ryan specializes in designing CMMC implementation plans for small and medium-sized manufacturers who utilize third-party IT service providers.

Ryan is a Marine Corps veteran with over 13 years of experience in IT security. As one of the first CMMC Provisional Assessors, Ryan has leveraged his unique insight and experience to bring context to CMMC in manufacturing environments. As a CMMC-AB Industry Standards Working Group member, Ryan worked with other stakeholders to develop drafts of the CMMC Assessment Guide sent to DoD for review and incorporation into final CMMC Assessment Guides.

Ryan has partnered extensively with the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network in developing and teaching DFARS and CMMC compliance training programs across the country.

John is an information security veteran with over twenty years in a wide-variety of roles. Currently, he leads global professional services and cyber strategy functions at IronNet, a leader in collective defense solutions. In this role he supports sales and provides thought leadership to IronNet Partners.

Prior to this John was CISO for ConnectWise, the global leader in providing software solutions for Managed Services Providers. In this role he was accountable for customer facing security activities, product security, and served as an advisor to the CEO and leadership team.

Mr. Ford came to ConnectWise in 2018 through the acquisition of Sienna Group, a firm he founded in 2012 that was dedicated to providing data protection solutions to enterprise organizations. Prior to Sienna Group he held several executive roles in the healthcare industry including, CISO of WellCare Health Plans, CISO/CCO of MCS Health Plan and VP of Security and Compliance for Ingenix, now called Optum.

Before entering the healthcare industry, Mr. Ford held executive roles leading the global Security team at Tech Data, a leader in technology distribution, and also at SAIC, accountable for the integration of Security infrastructures spanning the intelligence, law enforcement, and department of defense communities.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Ford holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida.

Secure Infrastructure Specialist, Operations Specialist

CMMC-AB Registered Practitioner – Advanced

Eric is a highly-decorated military service veteran. He’s an Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran, served 9 years in the US Marine Infantry and Combat Arms, 6 years in Protective Security Services, and 5 years in the US Army National Guard where he achieved the rank of E-6 Staff Sergeant and performed cybersecurity threat detection and mitigation duties.

Eric’s depth of knowledge in NIST 800-171 and CMMC, distinguished military service record, and warm, friendly demeanor inspire confidence. His areas of subject matter expertise include:

• DFARS 252.2041-7012, -7019, -7020, and -7021
• Recommending improvements to information security practices
• Tailoring policies, procedures, compliance tools, and methodologies
• Creating client work product templates
• Compliance project management, leadership, and communications

Rebecca joined Stryker in 2014 and is currently responsible for running the operations of the strategy programs inside of Stryker’s Incubator of Medical Technologies (IMT). Rebecca and her team facilitate cross-divisional collaboration with the commercial businesses of Stryker to facilitate local and enterprise level strategies, which drive new, innovative solutions into the organization for existing and new market segments.

Rebecca is a certified orthopedic nurse and holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Prior to joining Stryker, she held nursing and administrative positions at Metro Hospital and Sparrow Healthcare Systems. Rebecca also spent a portion of her career in sales and training in the information technology and business solutions marketplace primarily focused on healthcare customers and their needs. In 2005, the Paalman family started their own business, NuWave Technology Partners, servicing business, healthcare, and government markets as a managed service provider. Throughout her career, Rebecca has participated in several nonprofits including serving as president of the Junior League of Lansing.

Rebecca, her husband, Chad, and their children, Sydney (17) and CJ (19), reside in the Grand Rapids area.

Chad is the Co-Founder & CEO of NuWave Technology Partners.  Chad is presently serving on Cisco System’s Small & Midmarket Advisory Board, Cisco System’s Managed Service Provider (MSP) Advisory Board (founding member), Lansing Community College & Career Quest Learning Centers IT Curriculum Advisory Boards, and the Leadership Council for the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM).  Previous positions include the CompTIA Partner Advisory Council, The Channel Company's Xchange Advisory Board and NexGen Cloud Advisory Board, the Michigan FFA Foundation Board and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) and the Sparrow Hospital Foundation Board.  Chad holds a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

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Dani lives in north Dallas, Texas with her family - her husband Dan, their two sons, Xander (8 yrs) and Callan (2 years ), and husky - Khaleesi. Dani got her start in telecom 10 years ago with Windstream Communications via a Craigslist ad for an outside residential salesperson - yep, knocking doors selling home phone and DSL! Dani's passions aside from her family and her channel business include yoga, traveling, and experiencing the world's cultures. She even lived in Istanbul, Turkey for half a year as a private teacher. A few of Dani's notable accomplishments at her previous company was being the RingCentral #1 globally ranked Channel Manager for 2018 and #1 globally ranked Senior Channel Manager for 2019. She's especially proud of her role in creating and building channel programs/campaigns for her Partners and the Technology Solutions Distributors that she's supported over the years.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Jason brings over 20 years of managed service revenue, operations and leadership experience and is accustomed to launching new markets and outpacing existing targets.

Jason’s sales career began with Tigerpaw Software as an Account Executive, followed by positions at PacketTrap/Dell (now Ninja) where he led the MSP team.  After PacketTrap/Dell Jason led efforts at ConnectWise to develop the Telecom strategic market and generated over $14M in revenue over 3 years (over 15x growth). Jason recently exited ConnectWise as Sr. Director of North America Sales after 6 consecutive Presidents Clubs to lead the revenue team at Addigy. Since joining Addigy Jason has led the revenue team to 25% overall logo growth and 63% YOY growth in ARR.

Jason has demonstrated successes building high performing teams, developing game-changing sales strategies, implementing process infrastructure and exceeding company goals. His vast experience and advanced knowledge of the MSP & software industry positions him well to understand and respond to the complexity of an MSP’s needs. 

He holds a Bachelor’s in Science from Colorado State University.